A spirited start to this one after the Bulldogs players introduced their parents and billet parents prior to the game. The Centennials had a couple good chances early in the game, but Billy Christopoulos looked sharp. Marcus Russell would have the best Bulldogs chance early in the game but Jonah Imoo made a good save on a breakaway chance. The Dogs opened the scoring just after the media time out on the rush as Brett Stewart avoided the fore check and rimmed the puck up the left wing for Eric Margo. He would gain the Centennials zone and drop the puck to Marcus Russell before taking a return pass and driving the net down the left wing where he threw a cross-crease pass that was intended for Drew Blackmun but instead found the back of the net off a Centennial defender in the crease to make it 1-0 at 11:57 of the first period. The Centennials had a great chance to get the equalizer with 30 seconds to play in the period when Cole Chorney set up John Schiavo right between the hash marks but Christopoulos came up with a big pad save to keep it 1-0 Dogs after the first, with the shots even at 13-13.
The second period was hotly contested, hard hitting and fast paced through the media time out, with both goalies standing tall to keep it a 1-0 game as Christopoulos stopped Michael Ederer on a breakaway and Jonah Imoo also came up with a breakaway stop on Tyler Povelofskie as the puck went skyward and landed on the top of the net and stayed out. Again immediately after the media time out the Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead as Troy Dobbs took a Scottie Clark pass up the middle and sent Mitch Makin in alone down the left wing where he put a low slapper on net that was stopped by Imoo. He couldn't control the rebound though, as Makin found it and jammed it home inside the post at 11:42 of the second. Both sides would have their chances throughout the remainder of the period but the goalies stood tall as it was 2-0 Dog after two, with the Dogs leading the shots 13-12 for a two period total of 26-25.
The Bulldogs came out with a good jump to their step to start the third period, not looking like a team that was sitting back and defending their lead, holding the Centennials to just a single shot through the first half of the period to keep it 2-0. The score would stay that way until the dying seconds with the Dogs defending well and not giving up much despite the Centennials pulling their goalie with just under two minutes to play. The Dogs would seal the deal when Drew Weich knocked the puck down in front of the Dogs net and flipped one high out of the zone and through neutral ice where Eric Therrien chased it down and scored his first as a Bulldog from a sharp angle down the right wing with 2.8 seconds to play for the 3-0 final score.
Shots favoured the Bulldogs 36-27 - including 10-2 in the third period, with Billy Christopoulos picking up 2nd star honours with the win and the shut out in net while Jonah Imoo took the loss. The Dogs went 0 for 3 on the power play while the Centennials went 0 for 2.
The Dogs are next in action Wednesday night for their final regular season home game when they host the Victoria Grizzlies.
Hammer
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